Ashley Hoffman scored on a penalty stroke just under nine minutes into the first overtime period on Sunday afternoon in Chapel Hill to lift the No. 2 ranked UNC field hockey team to a 2-1 come-from-behind victory over the No. 20 Iowa Hawkeyes.

The game-winner came not long after Erin Matson tied things up for the Tar Heels by scoring with less than 10 minutes left in regulation, ensuring that head coach Karen Shelton’s team would escape the season’s opening weekend with two wins over ranked teams from the Big Ten in a span of just over 24 hours.

“When I go up for a stroke I’m never super confident and you have to combat that doubt,” Hoffman said. “But I don’t think that’s a bad thing. You go through your routine, get those thoughts out of your head and you execute.”

Iowa (1-1) recorded just four shots on the day, but appeared on the verge of making the most of them when Maddy Murphy scored on a penalty corner towards the end of the first half–receiving a pass on the left side of the net and promptly sending it home.

From there, though, the Tar Heels managed to recover and get the job done once again–as it marked the second straight day that the team had fallen behind 1-0 early in the game.

 “I told the team winning ugly is better than losing pretty in my book,” Shelton said afterwards. “But I think we can do a whole lot better than that and we have to keep working really hard.”

Up Next:

UNC is scheduled to make its first road trip of the season this Friday, as it heads to Philadelphia for a game against Princeton (11 a.m.)

 

 

 

 

Photo via Jeffrey A. Camarati (UNC Athletics)

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